


Dogs and Domestics

by PorcelainPrince



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 04:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4508226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PorcelainPrince/pseuds/PorcelainPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asahi is starting to feel alone, and decides to not let his comfort zone stop him from meeting the world. He bravely steps outside behind his puppy and canine formed social shield. Nishinoya, part time professional dog trainer, just wants a significant other tall enough to reach his favorite chips from the shelves in the super marked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dogs and Domestics

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first attempt at using this website, I hope it turns out alright.  
> I hope you enjoy bad puns and clichés because man thats what I write best.  
> Enjoy!

It was a genius tactic to tell it over tea, Asahi had to admit. An invitation to tea sounded so harmless on its own. He was over at his friend's apartment at least three times a week to eat late lunch with his friends, where they exchanged news and gossiped over pastries like the old souls they truly were. They would schedule meetings often and somewhere on the way, meeting for tea had shortened to tea time, which earned them the sarcastic nickname of “ the Tea Club” from their social circle. What their friends hadn't expected, was Sugawara claiming the name and using it without irony. He had even gone as far as to print tote bags on a whim at the printing shop where he had a part time job one summer. He had chosen a nice Helvetica font stating: “the tea club” with three cups underneath. Sugawara used it with an unironic joy, Asahi wore because it was really a nice design and because it reminded him of his friends, and Sawamura, they suspected, wore it simply because it had been a gift from his boyfriend. Living two stories apart, they continued their meetings, Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays for two years. Two years, that were now coming to an end quite too quickly for Asahi’s liking.  
  
"You, You guys are moving?“ Asahi’s shoulders were almost grazing his earlobes, and his eyes were wide and worried as he gawked at his friends whom exchanged expression of reassignment. Asahi had known that the third resident Shimizu, the one who made it possible for them to continue living in such a big apartment,was going to move in with her girlfriend very soon. But despite knowing this, it had never really occurred to him that his friends might need to move as well. He just naturally assumed they would get another person to split the rent with and things would work out so he could continue with his routines. Daichi let out a long heavy sigh, rubbing his neck as he did when he felt tired or guilty. „ Yeah, we decided to move to a one bedroom apartment. the place is smaller, and has, well, less natural light, but we want to live by ourselves you know?“  
  
Asahi nodded in understanding but kept his stare down into his tea. Had he been less focused on himself he might have noticed how the space was too big, how the interruptions of their affection were embarrassing for everyone and how far away the apartment really was from his friends campus. Suga, picking up on Asahi’s distress cut in with a smile, putting his hand on Asahi’s shoulder reassuringly. „But it doesn't have a bathtub so you’ll at the very least get Daichi on your door every other day using all your bathbombs!“  
  
They both Ignored the spluttering from Daichi that stated that he did not use bathbombs thank you very much, they made his hair fucking glitter and smell like lavender and he would never repeat that mistake. Asahi focused on his silver haired friend, and Suga gave his friend a crooked smile in return. His friends had been a couple for a really long time, and as afraid as he had initially been of turning into a third wheel, their romance didn't really disturb the group dynamic. He could easily spend time with them as individuals, and their platonic relationships was important to everyone. Asahi was perhaps the one who had benefited the most from their friendship, as he had grown more confident and had quite frankly gotten a bigger social circle thanks to his two best friends. And now they were moving.  
  
His initial though repressed response, had been to selfishly ask them not to move. To ask them to stay so he wouldn’t have to feel left out. They were only going to move to another part of the town, and public transportation made it easy to make it from one to the other, but things would change, and Asahi was a big fan of routine. It made his dull life have sunspots, but he was old enough to understand the couple’s want for privacy. He swallowed his childish desire for consistency and gave his friends a small smile. He let his tense shoulders lower and his cup rise so he could blow gently on the hot tea that had been shaking in his hands. „So, I assume you need help packing?“  
  
He was greeted by two full smiles, a pearl white row, and one with crooked lower teeth. Daichi and Suga punched him lightly, each in the shoulder respectively closer to themselves.  
  
_  
  
It had taken three days to pack everything, which included the entirety of Sugawaras horror movie collection, Daichi’s oddly big amount of patterned socks, and their shared, yet obscurely big collection of moomin china. Asahi along with Daichi’s friend Kuroo had been put in charge of packing the moomin china in bubble wrap and placing it in the box with the other breakable items. They had shared a look of disbelief as they took cup after cup out of their cabinets. Shimizu came walking past them with a neatly folded pile of towels and shrugged at their matching expressions of confusion. Even Asahi, who had been a frequent visitor had no idea the collection was that vast. they had every single limited edition cup in the collection, starting from the first holiday when they had gotten together. It had been Daichi’s first christmas present to Suga and the obsession had grown. Asahi simply hadn’t noticed because he had always, without a fault, been given the Hattifnatters cup. Smiling slightly at what was his assigned mug, Asahi smiled at Kuroo who stared down at his own cup with a frown. „ Hey excuse me, but if you have all these dumb cups, why the fuck am I Stinky?“  
  
he asked in a sincerely offended tone. A passing Suga with his arms full of bed sheets raised an eyebrow at Kuroo, daring him to disagree with his choice. Asahi snorted and continued wrapping the cups in bubble wrap and picked down a cup with a man in a green hat with flowers on it. He looked really at peace and his design was very pleasant. Kuroo and Suga were still engaged in a silent staring contest, though Suga looked amused and Kuroo looked offended. Asahi held the cup up with a raised eyebrow „ Hey, why couldn't I be this guy?“  
  
"Are you kidding me? You wish you were as cool as snufkin. besides, that is Shimizu’s cup.“ Kuroo and Asahi shared a look before shrugging in agreement. Suga was the self-proclaimed moomin expert after all.  
  
At the end of the evening, they sat in a circle of seven, on the floor in the now empty apartment. Suga had picked up their respective cups and the group was now sitting around the music angel Bokuto had brought, playing one of his own playlists of western pop music on full volume. He switched between singing along to the choruses on strongly accented english and sipping alcohol from his own Thingumy and Bob cup while telling loud, amusing stories about his everyday life. Kuroo listened to his friends antics, and didn’t really seem to mind the cup as his lips curled up in a crooked smile when he brought it up closer to his face.  
  
Shimizu’s girlfriend Yachi sat besides the rambunctious boys with her snorkmaiden cup, laughing at their bad jokes while Shimizu smiled gently and held her hand. Suga and Daichi sat pressed close with their respective moomin papa and moomin mama mugs, snickering a little, both slightly tipsy. Asahi curled his toes and smiled, trying to repressing the feeling of loss that clawed at his throat. He had a high tolerance of alcohol, but had a very low tolerance for drunk people, as alcohol made people a more intense version of themselves. Intense people he didn’t really know frightened Asahi, and intense people he did know made him worried for their safety. He swallowed the burning liquid down in a big gulp, determined to not ruin the small party. While it was a new beginning for his friends, Asahi couldn’t help but perceive the change as an end.  
  
_  
A week after Daichi and Suga had left, Asahi sat alone in his apartment once more, flicking through his television channels to have some background noise. He had yet to go greet his new neighbours, despite them being “approved“ by his friends. Suga had claimed them to be good people, with special emphasis on Ennoshita by Daichi’s demand. Apparently Ennoshita reminded Daichi somewhat of himself, being a reliable and grounded person, but knowing that made Asahi miss his old friends even more. He hadn’t been able to visit the couple in their new apartment yet either, and Asahi really missed them. There had been a lot of contact through social media, as Suga insisted on snapchatting their struggles with the new apartment daily. While it was amusing to watch Daichi wear overalls on Suga’s insistence, and to hear Sugawara’s merciless teasing while his boyfriend played handyman, it wasn't the same.  
  
He wasn't as extroverted as his friends, and he struggled to build the confidence to go out all on his own. He didn't like the looks he got for things he couldn't help, like his height, and his physique, and his rapid growing facial hair. Being an introvert was well and good, and he enjoyed his own company. He kept his living space clean, worked on his writing and played video games completely content on his own. Asahi was starting to feel lonely, and it was hard to be anxious of people while aching to meet new friends. He had considered taking up a hobby, but it had to be something that wouldn't be too demanding or too based on his personality. Getting into a new crowd that was competitive or where he was expected to show off his work was out of the question. Feeling isolated was tearing on him, and he knew the only person who could help him was himself.  
  
Resigning into his old, ugly burgundy colored couch, Asahi let the remote fall onto the cushion next to him. He stared at the ceiling before turning his attention to the randomly selected channel playing on the tv-screen. it was showing a movie about a dog, and it caught Asahi’s attention. He decided that he might as well watch the movie, as it was just starting and he rather liked dogs.  
  
At the end of the movie, Asahi was cleaning away snot and tears from his face and his shirt in his bathroom. He had never been able to stomach violent or gory movies, but had some restraint when it came to sad films and rarely cried. However, he had just watched the saddest story of his entire life. He had clutched a pillow to his chest and hid his face throughout the end credits, as knowing it was based on a true story had made it almost unbearable. He had heard about Hachiko before, who hadn’t? What he had not expected was for the movie to be that level of heartachingly soul-crunching sad. Acting on impulse, with fear and adrenaline running through his body he had grabbed his phone to call his mother, and had managed to choke out a question. “Mom? Do you think me getting a dog would be a good idea?“  
  
_  
He approached the subject with his friends two weeks later when they finally meet up for tea and lunch again. It had been two weeks of Asahi spending hours with his mother on the phone talking about dogs, researching different species on google while worrying that he would even be able to take care of something organic. He had grown up with a dog, and had been thoroughly shocked when he had died. His family had not had a dog after that, but the more he thought about it, the more Asahi realized that he really wanted this. he didn't leave the apartment that much, and if he had to walk a dog he would be forced into going outside in addition to his daily jog. He would practically be forced out to socialize with others while the focus would be on something else,and it seemed perfect.  
  
“you wanna get a dog?“ they exclaimed in unison, and Asahi cringed. He really disliked it when couples did the thing where they said the same thing. It creeped him out a little, and Suga’s horror movies where if not the cause, fuel to the unease. He nodded a little and showed them a picture of the breed of dog he after hours of research had decided would be the best choice for his own personality. Daichi plucked the phone out of his hand so they could examine it closer, and he raised an eyebrow. “ well. its long and has kind of an awkward snout and it’s hairy. I see why you choose this one, it's you as a dog!“  
  
“Well... you’re not ,wrong” Suga said, smiling widely while Asahi responded with a somewhat offended noise. “But bad jokes from Daichi aside, this is a beautiful dog Asahi! But, it looks kind of.. big? have you really decided on this one?“ Asahi nodded, giving them a crooked smile after ignoring Daichi’s joke. He had spent a lot of time researching what kind of dog to get based on his own personality, some kind of dog he would be able to handle and suited his life style, and after a couple of mails to some different breeders he had decided on that dog. „ yeah, which is why I kind of need you to drive me to the breeder Daichi, if you have the time in like, well. next weekend?“  
  
The blonde and the raven shared a look of surprise before the turned to Asahi and nodded.  
_  
  
"you should totally have, like, a puppy party!“ Asahi had been invited out for ice cream by his friend circle, a group he had been introduced to thought Suga and Daichi. it consisted of other college students working on their masters, and the group was really outgoing and friendly. Usually Asahi would chat casually with some of them, as he was still on a formal basis with a lot of his new friends, and he was still a bit shy around the more intense members of their group, like Bokuto and, well, mostly Bokuto. He got along quite well with Kuroo’s boyfriend Kenma, as they shared a taste in vintage video games, and had a similar distaste for loud noises and plain black coffee. He appreciated Kenma’s quiet nature, and having another introvert present made it easier for Asahi to show up. At the moment he had been telling Kenma about his canine decision, and Bokuto had overheard the announcement. Asahi’s face turned into worry as Boktuo’s wide grin only grew in size.  
  
“I dont think thats a good idea, I mean, it’s a puppy they get scared by a lot of noise?“ Suddenly being the center of attention still made Asahi a little anxious, but he shrugged and smiled at Bokuto either way, Suga elbowing him softly in the shoulder in silent support. Bokuto frowned a little before his face changed into another huge smile. The way his expressions so rapidly evolved never ceased to amaze Asahi. “ yeah but like, after a while it would be cool right? what kind of puppy are you getting?“  
  
“I’m getting a borzoi? they’re really, like, they’re greyhounds with more hair. they’re Russian. I’m picking her up in like five days.“ He tapped his fingers against his mug of tea in a nervous habit, as the group shared almost excited looks. it was nice to see how they cared about his decisions, even if the event was just something like getting a dog. Daichi however, leaned forward and gave Asahi an bemused look, crossing his arms on the table before turning to the rest of the group „ Yeah, he has like everything he needs, but its impossible to get him to pick a name for the dog. We sat for like, two hours at least, trying to brainstorm a good name and nothing was good enough.“  
  
"Well excuse me for being picky on a name, I have to call that name around people I don't know so it can’t be too weird, and I don't want it to be to common at the same time, its really hard!“ The statement caused the table to erupt in conversations about proper dog names, and Suga pulled out a pen from his tote bag, proclaiming that each one should write down two possible names for the puppy so Asahi would have some help with the naming process. The entire ordeal took over fifteen minutes, as Bokuto claimed Kenma couldn't suggest the name Cat for a dog, and they had to lay down ground rules on what was proper names. Kuroo also suggested that they should google an image of the dog so they actually knew what it looked like, and the phone was passed around the table along with the pen and napkin. when the list of potential names finally made its way to Asahi, he stared at the disarray of names he had been presented with and looked up at his friends with a raised eyebrow and asked, incredibly curious „ Who suggested Chun-Li?“  
  
Kuroo pointed towards his significant other, and the table turned to Kenma who just shrugged and looked at Asahi without breaking eye contact „ Legendary legs.“  
  
Asahi cracked a smile and continued down the list, telling Suga, for the fifth time that no, he was not calling the puppy Snorkmaiden, which caused Suga to stick his tongue out at him in childish defiance. The entire table snickered and Asahi continued down the list. The suggestions were more amusing to Asahi than actual names he’d consider for his puppy, but Zelda, Cerebus and Mymble were names he actually rather liked. He crossed out some of the weirder names, tempted ask if Bokuto was aware that both names he had suggested were names of famous fictional owls, but decided against it. It left him with a warm pool in his stomach to see his friends helping him with the issue, and he decided to keep the napkin, for sentimental reasons.  
_  
  
“ Noya, you should really give up your job, I don't doubt you love the puppies but the people seem to give you more trouble than it's worth.” Nishinoya Yuu, 24 years old, loved animals. all kinds. And when he had landed the job as a puppy instructor, the kind of job where you got to help people socialize and train their dogs right still made him feel incredibly proud. It should have been a perfect deal right? He got to play with puppies, use authority and was payed to do both. It was great, just perfect. But having to deal with middle aged parents and their kids was really starting to tear on Noya’s sanity, something his perfect and wonderful roommate charmingly pointed out with pizza in his mouth as well as all over his face. It had been a rough evening, and Noya was exhausted. The only thing that helped when things got that bad was extra cheesy pizza with every extra kind of topping the pizza place served.  
  
„ Man, I fucking hate suburban parents, so many of them are just, they are expected to have dogs, without having any interest in them and it fucking drives me mad. this is a living breathing creature, don't fucking treat it like its just another shiny thing with a long name to show off. I can’t handle another couple coming in with a pug I’m going to cry. or punch something. or both. „ Nishinoya was strongly against the entire concept of dog breeds, but could stomach dogs like golden retrievers, and Huskies. Those were the kind of dogs that looked like proper canines with anatomies that made sense and were practical. It was when dogs were turned into a sick game of human aesthetics, like corgis with their unnaturally short legs, he felt like fighting someone.  
  
Ryu listened patiently, shrugging a little and taking another comically large bite. Noya waited on him to finish chewing his food, collapsing a little more against the back of the sofa. The apartment they shared was a little small for them, but they both spent most of their time anywhere else, being busy students with part time jobs. Tanaka worked at a vinyl and arcade bar every weekend with a tall beanstalk he had taken under his wing despite the other boys obvious reluctance and occasional disgust. Swallowing and hitting his chest, Ryuu picked up a napkin and wiped the sauce away. ”Seriously Noya, if it causes you that much distress, I say quit. you can keep going until you find something else to do, and then poof, no more middle aged families making you tear your... well, your vertical hair.“  
  
Snorting a little at his friends joke, Noya sighed and on reflex ran a hand through his hair, as to keep it from giving in to the forces of gravity. It was nice to live with his friend, even if he rarely saw him that much. Now, Noya was not lonely, he didn’t lack friends He could go into any room strutting and demanding attention. but it was a long time since he had gotten serious with anyone, and quite frankly, Nishinoya missed the stress relief he found in sex. Knowing Tanaka wan't in the same loveless boat as he was, made it less bearable. Tanaka was being all mysterious and blushy about a dude that frequently hung around the bar, and it made Nishinoya only the tinisiest bit jealous that no one had showed up in his life giving him something to be mysterious and lovestruck about.  
  
“But yeah anyways, do you wanna watch some shitty TV before we sleep?“ Noya grinned and settled against his friend's side as he turned on the television, satisfied with their casual platonic affection. He didn't have it that bad after all, he just needed someone to pay for the popcorn at the movies. Preferably also someone who reached the higher shelves at the super marked. Why they stacked the good bags of chips that high Noya would never understand.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I'll try to update once a week.  
> if you have any comments, constructive or otherwise please add them!


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